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SB 231 
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NOV 5 1903 



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7 Z * *7 SUGAR CANE 



By W. C. Stubbs 

Director of Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station 

Sugar cane was introduced into Louisiana by the Jesuits 
in 1757, began to be extensively cultivated in 1795, and 
since that time it has been the chief crop of south Louisi- 
ana. It is cultivated along the entire Gulf and South 
Atlantic coasts. In Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 
South Carolina, north Louisiana, and north Texas it is 
manufactured into syrup, while in south Louisiana and 
south Texas it is converted into sugar and molasses. 

Description of Sugar Cane. Sugar cane is a gigantic 
grass with fibrous roots which reach laterally in every direc- 
tion. The stalk is a cylinder, varying in diameter from 
one to two inches, with nodes and internodes (joints), the 
latter varying in length from two to even six inches. 
These stalks vary greatly in color, running through white, 
yellow, green, red, purple, black, and even striped with two 
or more of these colors. The leaves, grown on alternate 
sides of the stalk, are clasping at first, but gradually ripen 
and fall off as the cane matures. I nco me varieties the 
lower part of the leaves (sheatj^^i^^fckwith minute 
prickles, which sometimes painj Be hands of 

the cane cutters. The joints maM Boots up, and 

as each ripens it casts its leaf ; wH|B?^Pen ready for 

Copyright, 1903, by Ginn & Conpa.iy. ^^^^ 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 

D 

the harvest has a few 

leaves only at the top. 
Under each leaf and 
on alternate sides of 
the cane is a bud or 
eye from which the 
cane is usually prop- 
agated. A close 
examination of the 
"eye" will reveal 
rows of "dots," each 
marking the place 
from which a root 
will sprout when the 
cane is placed in a 
moist soil. 

In tropical coun- 
tries the sugar cane 
at maturity some- 
times " flowers " or 
"tassels." These 
tassels are panicles 
of silken spikes on 
large peduncles, re- 
sembling very much 
a plume of pampas 
grass. Very few of 
the seeds produced 
are fertile. This is 
due doubtless to the 
fact that the cane 




SUGAR CANE 



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\ 

V r 


A 


\~ySk 


p y 








V J 


A 


\,A~ . 





It 



has been so long propagated from cuttings ("eyes") that 
the flowers have lost vigor. The sugar is found in solu- 
tion in the large pith cells of 
the cane. At maturity the cane, 
after being stripped of leaves 
and topped, is cut at the ground 
with a cane knife or machete. 

Where grown. Formerly it 
was thought that sugar cane 
could be grown only in tropical 
islands, but it has now been 
shown that 
where be- 
tween 30 
and 35 north 
or south of 
the equa- 
tor, where suitable soil and an abun- 
dant water supply (either by rainfall 
or irrigation) can be obtained. Actual 
cultivation now extends from Spain, 
37 north, to New Zealand, 37 south, 
on both sides of the equator. 

Cane requires an enormous amount 
of water for its best development, and 
where the rainfall is deficient, irriga- 
tion is practiced — often with wo i 
ful results, as in Hawaii, where 
one estate over eleven tons of 
per acre have been produced 
has been found in practice that 



Cross Section of Cane mag- 
nified about 200 Times 

P, pith cells ; V, vessels ; S, sieve 
tubes 



will grow any- 



D 



T) 




ugar Cane 

yes ; B, joint ; 
D, internodes 
X, semitrans- 
dots in rows. 



4 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 

seventy-five to one hundred and one gallons of water are 
required to make a pound of sugar, and that a rainfall 
of two inches every week during the cane's growth will 
produce the largest yields of cane. While this crop 
requires an abundance of water, it is also true that a well- 
drained soil is absolutely essential to vigorous growth and 
to large, matured canes. This is easily understood when it 
is learned that cane, like all grasses, requires a large quan- 
tity of nitrogen for perfect growth, and this must be fur- 




Cutting Sugar Cane 



nished usually by the soil. Only well-aerated, moderately 
moist soils furnish the conditions which render the nitrogen 
of the soil available ; hence on every estate the lands should 
be well drain^d Mg^H M»l^ open ditches or tiles. 

There is^Biar:-;e nukitfer of varieties of cane, but the 
kinds usua^B-rowr' 'uftlre South are the purple, purple- 
striped or ■fwlnn. an Ptle green. Recently there have 
been distributSd^eW r&^arieties of " seedlings," which are 



SUGAR CANE 



5 



now being tried throughout the cane belt. Reference has 
already been made to the large number of infertile seed in 
every cane tassel. By extreme care a few of the fertile 
seeds can be made to germinate. After germination every 
plant varies greatly from its parents and from the plants 
grown with it. Therefore each plant is carried to maturity 
and then tested, and if found of merit is propagated in the 
usual way by planting the stalk. In this way a number 
of promising "seedlings " have been given to the world. 




A Field of Cane prostrated by Wind 



Soils for Cane. The soils best adapted to canes are, 
broadly speaking, those which contain the largest amount 
of fertilizing material and which have a large water-holding 
capacity. In south Louisiana al^^jj^fcl^mis and loamy 
clays are cultivated, while i™Georgja, ^Uabama, and 
Florida light, sandy soils, when^fcgfci !\ feftjjzed and cul- 
tivated, produce fine crops. SoW^apablt Wolding water 
and fertilizers can frequently be^M:>fii p^ cultivated by 



SUGAR CANE 7 

artificially supplying these essential factors of heavy cane 
growing. 

Cane is usually planted in five to six foot rows. A 
trench is opened in the center of the row with a plow, 
and in this open furrow is deposited a continuous line of 
stalks, which are carefully covered with plow, cultivator, 
or hoes. From one to three continuous stalks are placed 
side by side in the furrow, thus requiring from two to six 
tons of cane for an acre. In a favorable season this cane 
soon sprouts and then cultivation begins. Each young 
sprout, like all grasses, suckers vigorously and soon the 
entire row is filled with cane. 

The cultivation best adapted to corn will meet all the 
requirements of cane. It should be cultivated at short 
intervals until "laid by," which should occur when the 
cane is large enough to shade the soil. 

In Louisiana large quantities of tankage, cotton-seed 
meal, and acid phosphate are used to fertilize the cane 
crop, the quantity used per acre varying from four hun- 
dred to seven hundred pounds. 

In Louisiana one planting of cane usually gives two 
crops, the first is called " plant cane " and the second 
"first-year stubble" or "rattoon." Sometimes second- 
year stubbles are grown. 

In tropical countries the cane produces crops for many 
years, sometimes for as many as fifteen or twenty years. 
It is extremely doubtful, however, whe^er it pays to carry 
stubbles so long. ^t ^L 

In Louisiana canes are planteBr«->m OHpber to April, 
some preferring fall, others spring pl^tin^ Every coun- 



try has its season for planting and hj^sting. 



l^iH 
^e 



8 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 

In the United States the cane is harvested annually, 
because of the frost of our winters, while in tropical coun- 
tries it is permitted to grow from fifteen to twenty-four 
months before harvest. 

It is necessary in the United States to save seed from 
the fall harvest for the next crop. Sometimes the cane is 
planted in the fall as soon as it is cut, and covered deep to 
exclude the frost. Oftener, however, it has to be pre- 
served through the winter for spring planting. This is 
done either in horizontal or vertical mats, or by throwing 
the cane into the middles between the rows and covering 
with dirt by means of large plows. 

The juice of the cane varies in different countries, 
and even upon different soils and in different seasons. In 
some countries it may contain as high as twenty per cent 
of sugar and with very little other matter present, making 
it easy to work. In Louisiana the juice varies from eleven 
per cent to fourteen per cent, with two per cent to three 
per cent of impurities present. Upon the sandy soils of 
Georgia, Florida, and Alabama the sugar content is higher, 
often reaching sixteen per cent, with of course a diminu- 
tion of impurities. The yield of cane per acre in tons is 
also a variable quantity, depending upon country, season, 
and soil. Over one hundred tons per acre have been 
grown in Hawaii, and sixty tons in Louisiana, but the 
average is much below these figures. In Louisiana an 
average of twent^js thirty tons per acre on a large estate 
is considered a f^tyield. Upon the sandy lands of the 
coasts fifteen^B t\v ei f »ons per acre are good yields. 

Making of Syr ud- Sugar, and Molasses. A small mill, 



•ujj^ 
;esfl 



propelled by horsesjwor crushing the cane, and a kettle or 



IO 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



pan for evaporating the juice, constitute the outfit for 
making syrup. This equipment is very cheap and can be 
easily operated by a small family. While these small mills 
rarely extract more than one half of the juice in the cane, 
the syrup made by them is exceedingly palatable and 
usually commands a good price in our markets. 

In our large sugar houses nine-roller mills, with a 
crusher in front, clarifiers, evaporators, multiple effects, 
vacuum pans, centrifugals, pumps, filter presses, boilers 




A Common Type of Syrup Factory 



„« 



and engines, tanks^BP cars, are found. A modern, up-to- 
date sugar house, capable of handling from five hundred 
to one thousand tons of sugar cane, will cost from one 



SUGAR CANE 



II 



hundred thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars, and a large number of both skilled and unskilled 
laborers is required to operate it. Such a mill as the 
above will extract from seventy-five to eighty pounds of 
juice from every one hundred pounds of cane. The 
refuse left after the juice is extracted is called " bagasse " 




Transferring Cane from Wagon to Trolley 



or " megass," and can be used as fuel under the boilers, 
or made into wrapping paper. The juice is usually treated 
with sulphur and lime, and then boiled. This treatment 
brings to the surface a heavy blanket of scums, which is 
removed and, with the settlings, sent through the filter 
press, where the juice is extracted and the solid matter 
(cake) retained in the press. Thi^cjarified juice is now 
evaporated into syrup, either in open vessels or in multiple 
effects. The syrup is now drawn into the vacuum pan, 
where it is cooked to grain at a high vacuum and a low 



12 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



temperature. This mixture of sugar and molasses (called 
masse cuite) is drawn into a centrifugal machine with 
perforated wire gauze sides placed within a solid iron 
vessel. By a rapid rotation of this machine, the liquid 
molasses is thrown through the wire gauze into the outer 
vessel, while the sugar is retained in the centrifugal. By 
using water or other washes, any grade of sugar may be 







teJp§ If V^^SI 

.__. -v..,-.-. - r r t . -. :, - 





Machine for Transferring Cane from Cars to Carrier 



made. By again cooking the molasses separated from the 
first sugar, second sugar, usually termed " seconds," may 
be obtained. The molasses from the second sugar may 
be made to yield third sugar, or " thirds." 

There are a few open-kettle sugar houses left in Loui- 
siana. These diffei^rom the above in that the syrup is 
cooked directly in open pans or kettles to a heavy density 
and placed in vessels (ca'led coolers) to crystallize. In 
a few days this crystallized mass may be either potted 



SUGAR CANE 



13 



in hogsheads or run through a centrifugal machine as 
described above. Open-kettle sugar and molasses are 
thus obtained, the latter fetching a high price on account 
of its delicious flavor and agreeable aroma. 

Write to the Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, 
Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, for bulletins 




Sugar Shed in New Orleans 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




000 931 435 



